


Louder Than Sirens

by BabyPinkPuppy



Series: Life with the Turtles [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Action & Romance, Angst and Humor, Blood and Gore, Boys In Love, Brotherly Bonding, Dark Comedy, Deadpool References, Dysfunctional Relationships, Español | Spanish, Eventual Romance, F/M, Girl Power, Girls with Guns, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Inspired by Music, Movie References, Protective Turtles, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, Team as Family, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-04-20 00:58:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14249634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyPinkPuppy/pseuds/BabyPinkPuppy
Summary: After fifteen years of being stuck down in the sewers, forced out of society since humans wouldn't accept them, the four turtles are finally allowed on the surface. However, they discover life is not as simple as it seems when they go up for the first time. None of them would've ever guessed they would try to save some random girl with red hair from a bunch of alien robot bodies. None of them would've ever guessed that they would meet their father's archrival along with his entire Foot Clan. And none of them would've ever certainly guessed that they would meet another human girl and allow her to stay with them in their home. She seemed like a nice enough girl; she was pretty, she was smart, and she was incredibly violent and she had a dark, twisted sense of humor. Little what they knew about the girl was that she used to be affiliated with their most hated enemy, she lied to them and never mentioned anything about being a former assassin and a current mercenary. Neither did they or the girl know anything about her strange powers. And, oh, did they mention that Leo totally had a thing for the strange girl?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first story I've ever written for Fanfiction and that was over a year ago. I already have the sequel up in another website. And you will notice, if you have ever read this story on Fanfiction.net, that I changed almost EVERYTHING. That's because I didn't really like how it came out or how I wrote it. My old laptop's keyboard just stopped working so I had to use the onscreen keyboard instead which sucked because it took me forever to write at least one sentence. ONE SENTENCE! I just couldn't take it anymore so I stopped trying and just half-assed it. Which I realized was a total mistake because the story didn't end up making sense and it was too late to rewrite anything because that would just confuse my readers. So after I have published all of the chapters on here, I'm going to copy it and paste it on my other story and that way I don't have to retype anything. So this basically features my infamous OC Jewel King. 
> 
> And I'm kind of imaging Aaliyah as both the voice and the physical appearance of Jewel. She was such a good actress and she would've killed it in the Matrix. And I loved her music so much and her personal style and how it transitioned. She wore slightly slutty clothes but it was really in a unique and classy way. I can really see her portraying my OC. I personally loved her in the Romeo Must Die movie and she was amazing in Queen of the Dammed. It's such a shame her career was short-lived not to mention that horrible bio movie they made for her. She was heading off to do bigger and better things. 
> 
> There will be mentions of my favorite songs along with girl groups and others. And there will be Deadpool references since my OC is loosely inspired by him along with a few aspects of Vixen. And a couple of scenes from the movie because they're hilarious and Jewel IS a mercenary, so that's that. There will be other references of T.V. Shows, Movies, Music, and just all kinds of other stuff. I really hope you guys like this story and just so you know, it's gonna get really dark and romantic as hell. But I am changing a few aspects from this version and my Fanfiction version since there's some stuff I wanted to add in the beginning.

[ ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiCjpDX773aAhVyg-AKHeIUBJgQjRx6BAgAEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailynews.com%2F2018%2F01%2F16%2Fphotos-remembering-rb-singer-aaliyah-on-anniversary-of-her-birth%2F&psig=AOvVaw3ZKFpSDeh8E506FAs1XFDu&ust=1523936385240356) [  Just what I imagine what Jewel's physical appearance looked like, hair and everything.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjAjIrNpK7aAhWrZd8KHTBVBzAQjRx6BAgAEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.luresnews.com%2Faaliyah-curly-hairstyles%2F&psig=AOvVaw3wrZ3eD8egNfDGXgLfYzhy&ust=1523400768221771)

She sighed heavily as she stared at herself in the compact mirror, one of the only things she'd managed to carry along with her in the pocket of her baggy camouflage pants. She had her knees drew up to her chest, double-checking for her makeup for like the tenth time already. It was the same—the same for the past three weeks she's been stuck here. Her lips were a reddish brown, she had a light layer of brown mixed in with a little bit of smokey eyeshadow, and black mascara. Bags hung under her eyes and she closed the lid of the compact mirror with a sharp click, and she stuffed it back inside her pocket. She ran a hand through her black tresses, lightly curled as most of them were positioned at the left side of her head. She drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as her head made a light thump against the metal wall.

Three weeks. If she calculated correctly, it had been three weeks since she was ambushed in her hotel room, where these strange men all hovered around her and pointed their strange guns at her. She remembered painfully when she threw her hands up in the air in surrender, sliding a plate that was near her feet and kicked it at one of them. The men all had identical faces with blank and monotone expressions. They talked weird and it wasn't even proper English. It annoyed her to no end and she vaguely remembered rolling her eyes skyward. The plate made a deafening crash on one of the weird triplets face but to her surprise they hardly reacted. In fact, no blood trickled down the guy's face and instead they just shot their guns at her. She dodged and flipped until she became overwhelmed, wondering who the hell these guys were and what they wanted with her. Was this some twisted prank?

They hit her with a syringe that made her fall asleep and then the next thing she knew, she was trapped in some cell. The lights made the walls tinted purple, along with various shades of magenta and there was a window that outlined her captors, marching in the halls, ignoring the teen girl inside. She was both bewildered and intrigued when she learned the fact that these guys weren't human at all. In fact, when she had a better look of them, she noticed that they looked like robots and there was something inside of their chests. These weird, pink bubblegum aliens inside which creeped her out and amazed her at the same time. She always thought aliens only existed in those sci-fi movies like that stupid Space Heroes cartoon or the Men In Black movies. Never has she ever thought they were actually real. Weird but very interesting.

She tilted her head upward and stared up at the ceiling, wishing it could've been the starry night sky, the same shade of her eyes—which was strange considering she was an Afro-Latina mixed with Japanese ancestry from her father. The last time she got a good look of the sky was the time she had snuck out of the photoshoot and climbed up to the edge of the rooftop. The stars had shone bright, concealing the dim glow of the moon. The color was a bluish black, same shade of her eyes. She remembered she caught the sight of her reflection in the window of the glass building across from her. Her skin was a rich medium brown color, her features were soft and sharp at the same time, and her hair was dark as a raven in the snowy weather, a stark contrast against the glistening white. A lot of people told her she looked just like Aaliyah, an R&B singer who had died back in 2001. She could see the resemblance between her and the deceased star. But her eyes were blue and incredibly dark to the point where they looked darker from a distance.

Shifting a little, she pillowed her head on her crossed arms, closing her eyes as she opted to fall asleep instead. What the fuck did these aliens even want from her? She didn't have anything to offer them. She didn't even know why they were keeping her trapped here. Was it because she was a model? Was it because she was one of the youngest gymnastic athletes to win a gold medal? Not to brag, obviously...well, okay, she was completely bragging. Or was it because of her late-night or daytime job that she told nobody about? It had to be the last, because what else would a bunch of creepy aliens kidnap a gymnast or a model? That didn't make sense but it was also concerning to her. They weren't planning on raping her later, right?

She wondered if her agent was worrying about her—he was incredibly eccentric and flamboyant but he had always cared about her for some strange reason. She didn't even know how William put up with her unpredictable behavior. Did he forget about the time she actually left the building before the big fashion show for some new, upcoming designer? Or the time she hung cans of paint she bought from _Home Depot_ and triggered the alarm and buckets of paint spilled all over the crowd and all the girl's dresses. A muffled snicker left her lips as she smiled to herself at the memory. Lucy had been so livid with rage and she could still remember how the designer yelled at William for three hours top. _Guess some people can't take a joke,_ she thought to herself. Even after everything she did, William still put up with her and he always stood up for her whenever the reporters fire insults at her and repeatedly accused her of being an 'out-of-control wildcard'. But she wasn't really fazed at all by their harsh accusations. They weren't wrong but she didn't care.

Or what about her friends? Well, the few friends she had left. She wasn't exactly a people-person and she doubted any of them really missed her expect for the one friend she had known for a long time. Way too long. She was the girl who was known to be beautiful but intimidating added with her blunt remarks or her dark humored jokes. It's like people didn't want her to be brutally honest. She just didn't understand girls her age. She wondered if she should blame that on her father, since he was the one to raise her like she was a grown woman. He had always been strict but kind to her when she was a kid before he died in that car accident. And the young girl hardly knew anything about her mother, who died right after she was born. Wow...she was starting to sound like some twisted version of Little Orphan Annie. How fucking convenient.

Oh well...guess she'll just have to suck it up for now. She's already flipped off the aliens with her middle finger, though they didn't seem to quite get it and she found that hilarious for some reason. She supposed she could wait here and sleep, enjoy the dark chambers of sleep and dream about ponies and flowers and some other bullshit most teen girls her age dreamed about. Maybe she did need more friends her age. She's been hanging out with the underworld of New York for far too long. But hey, criminals and gangsters were fun to hang around. No rules, no one to tell her what to do, and she could do whatever the fuck she wanted. But for now...sleep and wait for some way to escape or wait for some dumbass hero to save her ass, as if that would ever happen.


	2. Rise of the Turtles Part 1

April O'Neil was a curious girl; she always had been ever since she could remember. Her father said it was because she had the mind of a journalist. Her relatives always told her she should be a reporter of some kind ever since she was a little girl, telling her that she'll dish into the upcoming crime waves and the discoveries scientists have been conjuring up for centuries. She just beamed up at them with a bright, wide-eyed shine in her crystal blue eyes. She took up the Journalism Club ever since she joined high school and had Journalism class as one of her electives. She knew what she wanted to do with that certain career. She wanted to dig into the facts, not the gossip.

Which was why she and her best friend, Irma, were currently sitting at their school's library, logging onto the computers set up to the side of the large room. Irma was staying after with her because she had a research paper to turn in tomorrow for Advanced Biology, while April herself was wracking her brain for this upcoming interview she had for this large modeling organization. She had a meeting with Lucy Leal, one of Mulan's most dedicated fashion editor and former designer for Gucci, along with some of her models from her own line, All The Stars. Weird name, but what did April know about modeling agencies? 

April typed into Google and researched some of the models. She noticed something in particular about each of the models—most of them were either Hispanic, African American, or mixed. That was actually kind of interesting considering American wasn't very diverse as of the moment. Maybe April could ask them about what it was like to live their in birth homes or what kind of dishes they would recommend. Not very exciting questions, but it's not April considered any of these models to be interesting. Most of them were just normal, and very beautiful, girls her age that had nothing peculiar going on in their lives.

Except one girl had caught her eye.

April paused and she stopped at the last name of the list, her brows creasing and her forehead wrinkling as she double-checked the sheet of paper. There was something oddly familiar about this girl, something that was on the tip of the red head's tongue but she couldn't quite place it. She's heard of the name before, somewhere around in the news her and her dad watched at night. Why did this name seem so familiar to her?

Shaking her head, she opted to type in the name instead of wracking her brain for the answer. Rapidly punching in the letters, April typed in 'Jewel King' and clicked 'Enter'. In an instant, an image appeared before her and she stared at the image before her mind caught up with her. The girl in the photo had rich medium dark skin, midnight black hair, and bluish black eyes. The girl shared a strong resemblance to some R&B artist April's heard of before. What was her name again? Alexandra? Ally? Aaliyah? Something like that, but April couldn't remember what. The girl looked like she could be April's age but she had some makeup on so it would be a little hard to tell. Maybe she was younger.

April's blue eyes skimmed the brief summary of the girl named Jewel King.

_Julia Anabel King is an American artistic gymnast and model. She was a member of the Tokyo's women's national gymnastics team, dubbed the Savage Six by the media, and won the 2008 Summer Olympics in the women's national division. She made her modeling debut in Justice: Next Generation when she was of age 5._

April clicked on the recent news about the girl and her eyes widened when she read the lines along of, _'Julia Anabel King, Tokyo's, Milan's, and New York's favorite model, has disappeared on September 4th, 2018. Reports say the girl had mysteriously vanished in her hotel room, which was in complete ruins...'_ April read on more, reading past news articles about the model and said a quiet, "Huh." From April read, nobody know about Jewel's whereabouts and she read the rest of her Wikipedia page. Her heart panged with sympathy when she read that the girl had lost her parents. She was raised by her father, whom was a doctor at some hospital, before he died when she was around the age of nine-years-old. Her mother died when she was born and April could almost relate. She also lost her mother years ago when she was just a little girl.

"Why are you reading about Jewel King?" a voice spooked besides her.

April jumped slightly and turned her head to her best friend, Irma Langstein. She glanced back at the computer, "I'm looking up all the models so I could get some insights about their personal lives." she answered, propping her hand in her chin, her brows furrowed, "Maybe they know something about the kidnapping three weeks ago." she said to herself, but Irma heard anyways.

The shorter girl frowned as she diverted her attention away from the project. "What makes you think they would know anything about it?" she asked, gesturing to the screen April was staring at.

"Well, it happened at a hotel, right?"

"Yeah?" Irma answered uncertainly.

"Then maybe this Jewel King and some of the other models were staying at the same hotel." April answered, grabbing her composition notebook and scribbling the key notes she needed to know about Jewel and her case. Irma raised a brow and slowly slid her olive green eyes back to her research on the differences between the cells of a mammal and a non-mammal. The library was filled with sounds of keyboard clacking. "I don't know, April," she began, "I don't really see why you even wanna interview these models or why you would waste your time reading about how pretty and perfect they are."

April smiled in amusement at her friend as finished the last of her notes. She knew Irma had always thought of models as nothing but self-absorber girls who spend way too much time on their back. But to be truthful, April didn't really see the point of reading articles about each of these models either. She just thought how it was interesting how the modeling agency was more diverse than others. But April considered this interview as baby-steps. And besides, this Jewel King case was definitely a news article to write about.

April continued to write anything else she considered beneficial and a key importance when her phone vibrated near the computer. Setting down her papers and pencils, notebook laid on the keyboard, April quickly grabbed her phone and read the message her father just sent her. "Gotta go," she told Irma, "My dad's here and tonight's our usual ice cream run," she explained further. She gathered up her things and tucked her papers into her notebook, stuffing it inside her backpack as she slung the strap over her shoulder. She logged off the computer and pushed the chair in.

"You wanna come with?" April offered and Irma grinned, glancing up at her. She adjusted her oval-shaped classes on the bridge of her nose, but she shook her head. "Can't." she rejected, "My mom's taking me out to see my little cousins later and unfortunately for me, it's mandatory. But thanks." the gothic dressed girl chirped at the last part. April shrugged, patting her friend on the shoulder as she made her way out of the library. A small, content smile spread across her face the more and more she thought about her interview with one of the world's most famous icon. Maybe she would even get to dish in about the whole kidnapping situation. This Jewel King character seemed like someone interesting to talk about.

But for now, in the meantime, she would just enjoy some downtime with her beloved father tonight. She just had a good feeling.

* * *

Adrenaline pumped through their veins, goosebumps dotting across their scaly skin, but not of fear, no...of excitement. The exhilaration the four of them felt as just being able to run across the pavement in the sleeping city. Shouts spewed from their mouths, but they weren't angry at all. They were thrilled and elated more than anything at this moment. The four boys skidded to a stop as they stood over the edge of the rooftop, four pairs of eyes staring up at the night sky. Bright spots were dotted across the sky, an inky pool of a bluish black. The buildings towered over each other like a game of Jenga, and sirens rang in the distance.

The wind breezed against their scaly green skin, their mask tails fluttering at the motion. It was their first time out in the big city of New York. They lived in the sewers for so long and while none of them dared to admit it to each other, they dreamed of this moment ever since they were five. They weren't like everybody else, they weren't like how their father used to be. If anyone from below heard any of their jubilant shouts and cries, they would have thought them to be regular teenagers enjoying a night-out on the rooftops. They would half-right in their assumption, but however, these four brothers were no ordinary teenagers. They weren't even human.

These boys were four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

And these four ninja turtles were enjoying the celebration of their fifteenth Mutation Day. It was their first time out in the surface. They were all fifteen today and things couldn't be better. They couldn't go out like normal people could in this city; because they were different from all the other people because they didn't look like them. They were freaks in a human's eye; the people on the surface didn't know what these boys were like and they would never be given a chance. It was a sad truth they'd all come to known ever since their father, their Sensei, told them the story of their mutation when they were about four-years-old. It wasn't fair but if humans ever found out about them...there was just so much that could go wrong.

It wasn't worth it. It didn't matter, anyways. They had no place in this world; they had nothing to offer these humans other than their scientific curiosity. 

"All right, guys, it's getting late. We should probably get back home." one suggested, his dark blue eyes gliding across his younger brothers. His suggestion was met with a series of disappointed 'awws' and groans, but the others eventually complied as they all trudged one step forward. Something caught one of the other turtles' eye and he paused, his reddish brown eyes locking onto the street below them, walking innocently around the corner of an antique shop. The first thing he noticed was that she had crystal blue eyes, her hair such a brilliant shade of orange. Her eyes were round as the moon, freckles were dotted across her rosy cheeks, her ensemble of clothes consisted mostly of a bright yellow shirt.

He gasped quietly, his arm pointing to the pair in a flash, "Guys, look at that!" Donatello whispered, and the rest of his brothers followed his eyesight. The girl was walking innocently on the street with whom he assumed to be her father, whose hair was a much darker shade of ginger. The father and daughter looked happy, but his eyes were fixated on the girl who couldn't be older than sixteen. His heart pounded in his ears, and he could've sworn that it must have skipped a beat when he laid his eyes on the girl, the moonlight seemingly shining down on only her. "She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." he whispered dreamily.

His other brothers gave him an odd look, the one with dark blue eyes and a lighter shade of blue shared a look with each other. One of his brothers looked down at the girl and her father, electric green eyes narrowed skeptically; she was indeed beautiful, but she didn't peg as someone he would like himself, he always thought he might've had a thing for girls with blonde hair and blue eyes. The four turtles had only ever seen a human girl in those pictures Splinter had of his old life with his beautiful and wife and baby girl, and some of those magazines the one with green eyes kept. Including the movies Donnie downloaded for them on his laptop.

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raphael asked bluntly and it was as if the tiny little hearts evaporated and the purple masked turtle snapped out of his daze in an instant. He snapped his head to his brothers and glared at them in annoyance, "My point still stands." he snapped, shaking his head. It was then that Donnie finally heard tires screech against the road below them and his brothers took notice as they watched the scene below them.

A van drove up onto the street, and several men immediately got out of the large vehicle, surrounding the girl and her father. They all wore professional business suits and dark hair, along with another man, skinner and ganglier than the rest, as they walked up to the pair below threateningly. The girl's father frowned as he tensed visibly and covered his daughter partially as a way to protect the girl. Her crystal blue eyes widened to the size of saucers and she gasped, fear dancing in her round eyes. She clutched onto her father's arm as her eyes jumped from one man to another.

Donnie watched from the edge of the rooftop and his eyes widened in alarm; what did those men want from those two? They weren't planning on kidnapping the girl and her father, right? They couldn't and Donnie just couldn't sit here and watch from the sidelines. They could severely injured the pair on the street or worse. How was Donnie just supposed to stand by? "We gotta save them!" he hissed and he was just about to leap off the building and disarm the men until an arm latched onto his shoulder. Donnie tensed and he turned his head to glance up at his eldest brother, "Splinter's instructions were very clear." Leonardo reminded, "We're supposed to stay away from people...and bathrooms."

Raph raised a brow at his older brother, "I thought you wanted to be a hero?" he asked with a bite, "Since when do heroes ask from permission?" 

"They don't, but—"

Donnie narrowed his eyes and looked back to the pair across from them from below the street; he wasn't having any of it and he refused to waste time. "Well I'm going!" he said with conviction, leaping off the edge without another word. Raph and the youngest turtle, Michelangelo, stared after his retreating form for a split second before leaping off the edge themselves, leaving Leo by himself. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists in irritation. Sometimes he couldn't understand how his brothers could easily annoy him to the point where he felt like clawing their throats out for being so reckless. He shook his head and unclenched his hands, sighing heavily in exasperation. He opened his eyes and narrowed them in determination as he leapt off after his brothers.

* * *

Splinter glared down at all of his sons with a mixture of anger and disappointment. It was only a few hours ago when Splinter had reluctantly allowed the four of them to venture up to the surface for the first time. He had kept them hidden in the underbelly of the city for years ever since that night he had encountered those strange men, the same men who had kidnapped this girl and her father. He hadn't been up on the surface himself in years, and for a good reason, too. Humans wouldn't be accepting of him and his sons, their response would either be to scream in fright and run away from them, or contact the authorities and they all would experimented on in a lab. And Splinter refused to let that happen to his sons; to be treated like they were some kind of wild animal you could stare at in the zoo.

"And so your inability to work together allowed them all to get away." the old rat master scolded his sons, who were sitting in front of him with their hands resting in their laps. Raphael snapped his head to his eldest son, Leonardo, and glared at the blue clad turtle heatedly, "Well, maybe if I didn't have to waste time arguing with hero boy, I could've saved them." he retorted fiercely, placing the blame over the latter. Leonardo glared icily at the former, "Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, I could've done it." he shot back, jabbing a finger to himself.

Leonardo turned his head in a flash at the second youngest turtle. "And _you_ went flying off on your own. How smart was that?" he reprimanded while spreading his arms out slightly to emphasize his point. Donatello glared at the blue masked turtle, "Well, it would've worked out great if _somebody_ hadn't hit me in the head with their _nunchucks!"_ he snapped viciously as he snapped his head to the youngest turtle, Michelangelo. The latter blinked and narrowed his baby blue eyes, "Well...none of this would've ever happened if—" he gestured to the empty space next to him, blinking once as he realized he had no one else to blame.

He faltered for a few seconds before glaring back at his older brothers. _"Somebody_ hadn't trusted up to go up there in the first place!"

Splinter continuously paced with his hands clasped behind his back, brewing over as all of his sons continued to bicker and place the blame on all of them. He paused abruptly at Michelangelo's comment that was clearly not thought over carefully. His other sons all gasped and he could feel their shocked and hesitant eyes trailing up at him. Splinter's expression remained stoic but his ears twitched slightly. He knew Michelangelo didn't exactly blame him in particular, since there was no one left for the youngest to blame. But that didn't mean his words weren't true. It was Splinter's responsibility to care for and train his sons to the best of their abilities. But he never trained them to fight as a unit.

Michelangelo realized his mistake a second too late as he winced, guilt in his freckled features. He placed a hand over his head and rubbed his sheepishly, frowning as his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. "Oh, geez," he muttered; he didn't mean to blame Splinter, he just didn't have anyone else to blame. "Sensei, I didn't mean to—"

"No, Michelangelo." Splinter interrupted, "You are right."

Shock took his four sons' expression and they all looked up at him like he lost a head. 

"I am?" Michelangelo asked just as his brothers did the same, "He is?" they all chorused.

"You were not fully prepared for what was up there," Splinter began as he resumed his pacing, "I trained to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine." he said as he looked down, "Perhaps in another year we can try again." he suggested much to his sons' disappointment. Donatello's eyes widened in disbelief as he stammered, "Another year?!" he nearly shouted, looking aghast as he looked at his brothers and father, "Has everybody forgotten that people were _kidnapped?!_ They don't have a _year!"_ he ranted before looking up at his father, eyes pleading, "Sensei, we have to do something _now!"_

Splinter stopped and looked down at his brilliant son, who was looking up at the rat with a pleading expression on his face, his own expression stoic and revealing no emotion. "You weren't there, Sensei." Donatello said, "You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared. And she was counting on me _—u-us—"_ he faltered as his brother glared at him indignantly. "—to save her!"

Splinter mulled over his second youngest sons' words as he looked up, eyes narrowed before he turned around and walked closer to the shrine he kept in the dojo. His crimson eyes gazed into a framed photograph. The photograph was black and white, like in those old movies Splinter used to watch with his mother when he was younger. The photo consisted of himself in his old form back when he was a human, features stoic but soft, standing next to his beloved wife, Tang Shen, little Miwa cradled in her arms. It had been nearly sixteen years ever since he had lost his family to the man who he used to call his brother. As he continued to gaze into the photo, it was almost as if he could hear the crackling of flames ringing in the night air, the cracking of debris falling off the structure of the building, a baby's cry and blades meeting flesh.

His features softened as the memories quickly began to flood in his head, and he realized then that his intelligent son was indeed right; they had to save that girl and her father. Splinter could sense that Donatello might've had an infatuation with the girl that was kidnapped, something he never thought would ever happen since his sons could never even have some sort of relationship with the opposite gender. A cruel truth but Splinter understood more than anything that his son wanted— _needed_ to save this girl.

He turned around swiftly as he addressed his sons, "Yes," he finally said, "you must save her."

Leonardo frowned, "I agree, Sensei," he said, "But in that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine." he admitted sheepishly. Michelangelo nodded, "Like that robot with the brain thingy." his brother shared a collective roll of their eyes; Michelangelo had earlier explained that he encountered one of the strange men and saw that he had some sort of...'brain thingy' trapped in his chest. None of them really believed him, but the youngest had been adamant and it was clear as day in their expressions that were growing increasingly irritated. "Give it a rest," Raph snapped, his voice both angry and weary at the same time.

Splinter hummed as he closed his eyes, stroking his beard in thought as he mulled over his sons' words, ignoring Michelangelo's. It was clear neither of them could fight as a unit, their personalities clashed wildly and it just wouldn't work if they didn't have some form of direction. They would need a leader for their team and although Splinter knew the requirements and tools to be one, he had to let his sons figure this out on their own, now that they were older. "If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader." he advised.

The turtles all gave him confused looks and tilted their heads at him, but Leonardo merely grinned from ear-to-ear and his hand shot up as if he was a student answering a teacher's question. "Can I be the leader?" he asked eagerly and Splinter withheld the strength to grin down at his eldest. Raphael turned to the eldest just as Splinter made his way towards his bedroom. "Why should _you_ be the leader?" Raphael asked, "I kicked your _butt!"_ he punched his own hand for effect, _"I_ should be the leader." he decided. Donatello glared, "Hey, I'm smarter than all you guys put together. It should be me." he retorted as he crossed his arms, sounding sure of himself. Michelangelo frowned deeply, "No way! It should be _me!"_

A beat of silence. They all stared at the youngest and blinked once, staring at him as if he grew a pair of heads. Michelangelo remained oblivious as he grinned, "I don't really have a reason. I just think it would be neat."

Splinter grinned in amusement as he rolled his eyes with a fond shake of his head. Boys, he thought to himself as he regarded his quarreling sons, "This is a difficult decision." he gained their attention, "I will meditate on it." he said as he slid the doors shut and waited about for a second or two. He slid his doors open and, "It's Leonardo." he decided before sliding the door shut again.

The four turtles all blink once and Leo restrains the urge to grin smugly, but he couldn't help but turn his head to his immediate younger brother, "No hard feelings, Raph?" he asked and Raph glared sourly, grunting as he stood up and began to stomp out of the dojo, "Stick it in your shell."

* * *

Sirens rang in the distance in the nighttime air as all four turtles stood on the rooftop where the kidnapping had happened hours ago. Although, when the three turtles found what Leo's great plan was, they wished they could have stayed at home instead. Though they never spent this much time out in the surface so they couldn't complain much. Mikey sat with his knees drawn up to his chest on the edge, next to his older brother, and he cupped his large hand around his mouth. "Explain to me one more time what we're doin' here?" he asked for nearly the umpteenth time.

His brother all groaned in annoyance; the three older brothers knew they shouldn't get too angry or irritated with the youngest turtle, ever since Donnie had diagnosed his ADHD about five years ago. But still, there were times where it was difficult to put up with him. "Mikey, we've been over this." Leo said in exasperation. He pointed over to the building across from the rooftop they were standing on, "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family. So if we wait here long enough, at least one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when they do, we'll make them tell us where they took them."

Mikey beamed at his older brother, "And then we got ourselves a van!" he said with enthusiasm, pumping his fist high in the air. Leo's smirk fell off his face as he smacked his forehead, "Just hit the guy I tell you to." he said in annoyance. Mikey hardly seemed faze by Leo's tone of voice as he grinned widely, "Will do!" he complied, giving him a thumbs-up. Leo smiled as he turned his eyes back down the street, and Raph shot him a skeptical look, "You sure this is gonna work?" he asked doubtfully as he folded his arms across his chest.

Leo grinned confidently, "Trust me, they'll be here any second."

An hour or two came and went as the four turtles waited and waited. Mikey and Donnie proceed to play a game of paper football, Donnie making a quiet, surprised sound at the back of his throat when the piece of paper Mikey flicked across to him smacked him softly on the forehead. Donnie glared in offense at his younger brother, who chuckled sheepishly. A few minutes swept by and Mikey was sitting on the edge of the rooftop, his shell facing Leo since he was dozing off across from the other side. Donnie played a short round of jump rope before he yelped in alarm when he accidentally tripped over the thin material, face planting onto the gravel.

Fifty minutes came by as Mikey and Donnie sat shell-to-shell, the younger playing a game of I-Spy, Raph standing near them with a sour expression. Mikey grinned over at his older brother, "Okay, I'm thinking of something green." he told Donnie, who had one knee pulled to his chest, the other dangling over the edge of the rooftop, a bored and weary expression on his face. _"Ga-reen. Ga-reen."_ Mikey egged him on, and Donnie blinked once. A beat of silence. "...is it Raphael again?"

Mikey punched the air as he beamed brightly, "Man, you're good at this!"

Sirens could be heard in the distance as Leo stared down at the building across from them. His oceanic blue eyes were calculating and focused as he waited patiently, a patience none of his brother clearly possessed. 

Especially Raph.

"Give it up already!" the second eldest snapped, and Leo's gaze shifted him to the angrier and less patient turtle, who was pointing a finger at him. "The guy's not gonna show."

Leo hardly looked bothered by his blunt statement, "We have to be patient," he simply said with a light shrug of his broad shoulders.

Raph shook his head, narrowing his green eyes, "No, you have to come up with a better plan!" he retorted, "'Cause the four of us standing here with our thumbs up our noses—"

"I don't think they'd fit," Mikey interjected as he held up his thick thumbs and looked them over. Raph glanced at him for a second before shifting his eyes back to Leo.

"—is pointless!" he proclaimed.

To Raph's surprise, Leo merely smirked as he looked back down at the street, "You sure about that, Raph?" he asked with a smug tone, and Raph's eyes flattened. "He just showed up, didn't he?" he droned just as a bright light flooded the street across from them, a gangly man dressed in a pair of jeans and white tank-top steeping out. "I should've complained two hours ago." he grumbled as the four turtles gathered side-by-side, Leo panting his hands on his hips.

"Gentlemen, I have a bold and daring plan!" Leo suddenly declared, echoing his favorite character from Space Heroes, Captain Ryan, "There's no time for hesitation! My orders must be carried out _without_ question!" he suddenly opened his eyes and frowned when he noticed he was standing all by himself on the edge, "Guys?" he called, "Guys, wait up!" he cried as he leapt down and the metal fire escape clanged as Leo slid down from it before twisting around and leaping onto the pavement, following after his brothers. They couldn't make it five minutes without walking away during his monologues...

The turtles all slowly walked up to the gangly man with caution, hands held out in front of them defensively. The man remained oblivious to their presence as he shut the van's door and walked out of the alley, starting in surprise as the turtles gathered around him from a safe distance. His eyes widened as they jumped from turtle to turtle, and Raph smirked, "All right, buddy," he began, "we can do this the easy way—or, my vote—the hard way." he grinned like the devil as he and his brothers all unsheathed their respective weapons, twirling his Sais in his hands expertly.

Donnie spun his Bo staff smoothly as he pointed it at the gangly man with shaggy hair threateningly, smirking confidently. "Yeah, look at it logically," he said matter-of-factly, "There are four of us and one of you." he looked at his brothers and chuckled, "What're you gonna do?" he teased with a conceited grin. The man held his arms out and looked at them cautiously. And suddenly, he pulled out a strangely shaped machine gun from behind his pocket and smirked widely as he shot at the four turtles. Pink lasers left the gun and the turtles all cried out in alarm as they hurriedly jumped out of the way. 

Donnie and Raph hauled onto a nearby fire escape, and Raph whirled his fiery eyes toward his second youngest brother, _"You HAD to ask!"_ he snapped and Donnie flinched. Their eyes turned back to where the man had once been, and the tires squealed as the van drove away around the corner of the street, and the turtles sprung to action. Raph jumped down along with his brothers and he ran after the van, pausing as he looked back to their 'leader', and Donnie beat him to the punch. "He's getting away again!"

"No he's not," Leo said lowly and they ran and sprung up to the rooftops. They leapt and ran across the rooftops with instinctive grace and precision as they all spread out and followed after the car in a speedier direction. Raph leapt off from the surface he was standing and jumped on top of the speeding as if it wasn't a huge effort. His hands latched onto the surface as the van tipped side-to-side and the red masked turtle growled in irritation before he finally lost his balance and fell off the van, his shell creating cracked webs of concrete as laid upside down, groaning in pain.

The rest of the three turtles continued to sprint across the rooftops before springing onto the edge of another, following after the van. Pink lasers shot out and Mikey and Donnie flipped backwards as they jumped away from the fires of pink. Leo narrowed his eyes as he glanced at one of the tires for a split second, expertly dodging the laser shots that would surely fry him and he twisted slightly. He maneuvered himself upside down as he performed a fluid and smooth flip as he grunted as he pulled out one of his shurikens and tossed it accurately in the direction of one of the tires.

The tire's air expelled and the man began to lose control of the vehicle as it flipped over and rolled across wildly on the rough pavement, before finally flipping onto its side and smoke rose off the large van. The van's horn honked loudly before the sound died out and Leo leapt down and kneeled on the edge of another rooftop, a smug smirk on his features, "Now we're gettin' somewhere." he said.

The four turtles all gathered right around the corner from where the van was. Leo had his eyes narrowed as he made hand signals over his shoulders to inform his brothers to go around the back of the van, but he was oblivious to the odd looks his brothers were giving him, and Raph shook his head, "I. Don't. Know. What that...means!" he hissed as he made his own exaggerated hand signals. Leo shook his head softly and resisted the urge to pinch the space between his eyes. He sharply turned his head to his younger brothers, "Go around back!" he hissed quietly.

"Why didn't he just say so?" Mikey asked in a hushed tone as he gestured his arm, and Leo rolled his eyes skyward.

They all gained into defensive positions as they withdrew their weapons from their sheaths, looking around cautiously in case a pedestrian heard the loud noises and decided to snoop. They walked around the back of the van and noticed that the back doors were half-open as boxes were swarmed at the bottom, a hint of a pinkish magenta poking around the herd of boxes. Raph sheathed his Sais and opened the closed top part of the door and he made a small sound of surprise when something fell out of the van. It clinked onto the pavement and it rolled to a stop at Mikey's feet.

His baby blue eyes widened when he looked down at the object; it was large canister, and his features were illuminated by its greenish blue glow as he stared down at it with a mix of horror and astonishment. And he looked up at his brothers, all sharing similar expressions. **_"Mom?!"_** he gasped.


	3. Rise of the Turtles Part 2

Jewel sits with her legs crossed on one another and she grazes her hands on her thighs. She blows out a breath and tucks a loose strand of hair away from her face. The room is too silent; no sound to be heard as she blinks against the darkness. The only source of light she has are the cracks through the sealed doors that kept her hidden from the outside world. She's bored, restless from not moving too much in a long time. Those alien bastards chained her up like she was some kind of deranged animal. She doesn't know _why._

 _How much do they know about me?_ She thinks to herself. The chains dig into her skin, no doubt bruising underneath their tight grip. She hated the cold and icy feeling of them. Her skin was smooth, it did not belong to be attached to titanium.

She's not used to the feeling of helplessness. She's always been ready for combat. She had to be for so many reasons. Her father taught her to keep her senses sharp and strike when appropriate. Those were the rules he taught her. And this odd feeling, knowing you could be able to do something for your safety, to ensure you'll live, _sucks._ It was like this gnawing feeling at the pit of her stomach, twisting and coiling around her smaller intestines. It squished her lungs together and sealed her throat shut, no sound coming from her lips. Her head no longer hurt; it was now a soft and oddly soothing buzz at the back of her skull. Cuts a shade of vibrant crimson littered and ugly blackish purple bruises blossomed across her dark skin.

Saying those freaks tortured her would be the understatement of the year. They shot their guns at her repeatedly, and somehow her skin didn't peel off, which was a blessing in disguise; she had dark exotic skin, and she couldn't afford for any scar to mar her flesh when it provided some money for her. They actually had the audacity to whip her like she was some sort of _esclava._ And they performed some weird experiments on her, strapping her on a metal table and injecting some syringes into her. They were skinny and thin tubes filled with some fiery red liquid inside, the color of lava. She didn't know what kind of chemicals they contained, but it looked deadly, especially the side effects. The most prominent was the burning of her blood, as if someone were lighting up a torch and burning her bare skin and adding some acid just to be that cruel.

A metallic taste starts to fill her taste buds, and Jewel wrinkles her nose. The burning had since left her system, leaving her sore muscles numb and immotile. This strange feeling overcomes her and she doesn't know how to explain it. She just felt drained and heavy, like she aged thirty years older. She shifts a bit to get more comfortable—something she has to get used to now—and she leans back against the cool metal wall of the cell, closing her heavy eyelids shut and calling it a day, or night, whatever. She didn't see nothing different, everything was black either way, and she wanted nothing more than to succumb to the solid and murky depths of the dark world she lived in, dreaming of nothing.

Next thing she hears is the blaring of laser guns being shot, along with some yelling. Jewel instantly awakens, perking up at the sound and she whips her head to the sealed door. There's a small window that allowed her a minimal view. She furrows her brows and spots some pink lasers flying in the air, along with a streak of silver, and some other blurs of colors, these four the most significant: blue, purple, orange, and red, and...a flash of green?

Normally the raven haired girl would've jumped straight to her feet and inspect whatever chaos was going on, but these damn restraints prevented her from doing so. Instead, she opts to crane her neck as much as she could and try to get a better look. She hears more yelling, and the closer it got, it started to sound like...a battle war cry? Everything in her cell was muffled, so not much sound was heard unless it was _this_ loud. She wonders if she was starting to lose her mind when she heard someone holler, _"Booyakasha!"_

"What the hell does that even mean?" she couldn't help but ask softly under her breath, a mixture of disbelief and confusion. More shouting and gun shots could be heard from outside her cell, and that's when she heard some voices barking and snapping at each other, like a herd of wild dogs fighting for the last slice of prey. A small flicker of hope lights up in Jewel's chest, warming it up hot and ready before it dispersed just as soon as it'd came. Her shoulders deflate as she slumps; it was probably some experiment gone wrong. No one was coming for her. It's been three weeks and so far nothing's happened. Nothing's changed, and maybe that was okay. She hardly did much other than fool around and cause some trouble just for her own pleasure. She was difficult for people to deal with so this didn't come as a surprise. But still...would've been nice.

Just then, she hears a hiss of air near the back and she turns her head in curiosity. She lifts a brow, watching with wary curiosity as a pair of droids with alien mush in their stomachs walk over to her, guns in their hands, unblinking and no emotion. "Kraang, detain the one known as Subject 564 to the place that is the place to contain the one known as Subject 564." orders one of them, their voices cold and lifeless. Jewel couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance. They've been here for who-knows-how-long, yet they still couldn't speak proper _English?_ It was laughable once she thought about it.

Instantly, she hears something crackle to life and she looks down sharply when she saw that the chains wrapped around her hummed to life with a neon purple. She looks up with furrowed eyebrows as one of the creeps latch their hand around the back of the chain as they hauled her up to her feet. Her legs wobble slightly from the time it'd been since she'd been able to walk on her own will. A piece of black duck tape is clamped on her lips, though she finds it unnecessary. It wasn't like anyone was coming for her.

They say another long sentence that basically translated to keep her mouth shut. The tip of their laser gun was pushed at the back of her skull, and she was starting to feel the heat again, but it wasn't bad as before. It was hot but more like the type that made you sweat like a pig, but it still felt weird to her. A cool breeze instantly spikes her through her, blowing some of her hair back but it doesn't soothe the heat. In fact, it just seems to make it angrier when she notices that kicks it up a notch, burning her eyes now. _Weird._

* * *

It's been awhile since Jewel's been outside. She's been traveling from country to country for such a long time that she's never been able to really just go out and relish the outdoors. And it's New York, people don't take in the outdoors unless they're forced to. The last time she was actually outside for longer than three seconds was when she was around twelve. _It's...nice,_ she thinks to herself. The air was warm, just like when she was on that rooftop. A blindfold was wrapped around her head, concealing what the outside of the base looked like.

There were two aliens beside her, drawn close to her and their guns pointed at her sides, making the chain to dig harder through the fabric of her top. There was another one behind her, the gun at her head, feeling like some heavy weight she wanted to lift off. She heard the chop-chop of the spinning blades of the helicopter above her, and the sound grew louder until it quieted down as she heard it land from behind her. She heard a loud shriek and more yelling again, and then that's when she felt the aliens start to get violent.

The pressure of the gun became heavier and she cried out in surprise when she was shoved down to the ground. Out of instinct, she used the palms of her hands to soften the blow and she grunted as her palms smacked against the harsh gravel. Her precious wounds were stretched thin and she felt blood trickling down her sides. A dull ache brushed against the back of her skull. She felt a cold, metal hand grasp her bicep in an unforgiving grip as she was forcibly pulled off from the ground.

"Do that is which is known to be quiet." one droid ordered. She kept her mouth shut as she listened to the new sounds she was hearing. She heard more laser blasts coming from their guns, somebody shouting over the noise, and a nonhuman shriek. She felt a fist wind swing at her, blowing her hair back as her muscles coiled beneath her flesh. She sniffed and noted a hint of pollen, which was steadily growing heavier within each passing second. She heard someone yelling and barking orders at two people—named Raph and Mikey. She was dragged off away and the sounds of some fight were quieting down, and her back slammed against concrete.

She shifted a little until she gritted her teeth when she felt a throbbing pain ache at her side, scraping against her ribs. Her chest constricted and she hissed in a breath. She felt the icy chains tighten around her lithe frame, constricting her chest and tightening her ribcage. She grimaced at the discomfort as it jostled the wound in her side, trickling down her thigh like water. The black haired girl grunted as she felt someone dragging her feet down on the pavement and back to the chaos. The spinning blades and motor of the helicopter hovered over her, fading away into a distance before it became nothing but a hum, then to nothing at all.

Jewel couldn't hold back the loud and shrill scream that was forced past her lips when she felt an electrifying pain zap her from all sides. She heard it crackle and sizzling her raw and bare skin, smoke heavy in the air now. The corners of her eyes were blackening and her breathing grew ragged as she tightly gritted her teeth to force down the scream itching and gnawing at her throat. It felt as if the blood flowing through her veins was simmering and boiling, jarring her slender frame in a horrible jolt. She bit hard on her bottom lip and she tasted metallic passing by her lips and into her tongue. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she felt like it was about to explode, taking the rest of her with it.

The pain finally stopped and she slumped forward, breathing heavily. She wheezed and it felt as if blood was rushing out of her throat. Her lungs burned like fire as she fell to her knees, forehead tipping against the cold concrete. The smell of smoke was fading as she closed her eyes, a stinging pain blooming at her side. She stays in that position for a minute, then another, and then another until...

_Snap._

There's something burning inside of her; it's like this pit of fire that's blazing in her chest and starts to whirl around like some kind of tornado. It's burning and it's hot, and it's this weird feeling she's not used to. And yet...she likes it. She relishes it.

It's starting to spread around her body. The flames ooze into the blood in her arms, legs, chest, it's this burning fire that makes her want to move, want to fight. And she can't help but obey it, obey the commands the fire is ordering her to do. It wants her to ignore the feeling of being trapped, being tortured like you were some sick experiment, of being the helpless damsel in distress. She hates that feeling, and she wants to be angry, because she _is_ feeling angry, and she wants to be the rebellious girl she is and fight back.

Gritting her, she wheels around and swings her leg. A head is kicked off, and the aliens jump back at the surprise of seeing her fight back. They waste no time in aiming their guns at her, and she just glares back them with a murderous cloud in her eyes. She lets the adrenaline take over her, ignoring the fact that the chains were wrapped her anymore, and attains a defensive stance.

She ducks low when a link laser flies at her, getting into an impressive split. She leaps back to her feet and spins around to clock one of the aliens, going for the chest since it was most vulnerable. The glass cracks and the shards are caught into her knuckles as the alien inside squeals. Her sharp nails claw into its ugly green eyes, feeling the slime as she likes through the cornias.

She smirks coldly at it, swiftly turning around again and this time taking the alien with her. She hurls the screaming and pained creature at another one, and more lasers are shot at her. They're speaking and they're telling each other to alert Kraang that she's gone rogue, but the only thing she wants to feel is the screaming and the loud shots they keep firing at her. It's fueling the flame inside her and she loves it.

The rest in the blind anger and the fierce need to rebel, the thing that she's good at, as the battle carries on. A deadly gleams is firing her eyes, her moves swift and smooth and lethal as a predator. She's flipping over a bunch of aliens and she uses the chain to wrap around them— "irony's a cruel bitch, huh?" she mocks cynically—and uses them to swing around and she's spinning and spinning until all of the droids are gone and distracted.

Dropping the chains, she wastes no time and runs out of there, climbing onto the crates and up to the high fence, wired heavily with circuits to electrocute. She sees green out of the corner of her eye, and her gaze briefly flicker to the right and she sees this big ass, colossal plant mutant that's shrieking and swinging at something—somebody— but she doesn't care at the moment. It was just another thing to distract the aliens and an advantage for her to escape.

So, without hesitation, she grins wickedly, and bends her knees before springing up high into the air, leaping past the sharp spikes of the fence, and she lands smoothly onto the soft blades of the grass. She feels the grass for a minute, the blades pricking through the surface of her skin, damp with water, and she runs off again. She's running faster than she ever has before, an exaggeration she doesn't have the energy to prove. She's running into the streets, into the bright city that never slept, noisy with people who are rude and obnoxious.

 _Lord, hear me free,_ she thinks to herself with a smirk.

* * *

Her heart is beating inside her chest as she slows her pace down as she rounds a corner on a street. She slows to a walking pace instead seeing that there was no more immediate danger that lurked in the corners, now blending into the masses of people.

She looks around the street; there's people here and there's bells ringing merrily as they come by and pass her. She tries to catch her breath as she tries to look inconspicuous, like she's just like one of them. They all ignore the injured girl, but not before she catches some concerned or weird glances sent her way. She looks down at her arms and notices the cuts and the bruises marring her dark skin. They're still fresh and she hissed and almost stop in her tracks when she feels a sharp pain shoot down her side. Quickly, she ducks away out of sight and back into an alleyway. It's darker and the only thing that lets her see through the darkness is the dim light of the lamppost out of the corner.

She looks down and peels off some of the fabric that's now stained with fresh blood. She makes an "ooh" sound under her breath, the blood still trickling down her side. It stings like hell and the adrenaline starts to burn away, leaking out of her and fatigue washes over her like a river over stone. Her eyes are heavy like rocks and all she wants to do is sleep and never wake up, but life wasn't kind, was it?

With a heavy sigh, she tugs down the fabric back and looks around for a cloth or something to stop the bleeding. It's not a heavy flow but it looked like it could lead to an infection. She would know; her father told her that if you ever had some sort of wound that was bleeding irregularly, it could lead to an infection if not treated properly. He was a doctor before he died, and he made it his job to scar her with random and useful medical facts that came in handy at times. Her favorite was stab wounds.

She opens the lid to the dumpster against the brick wall, and she's digging through the pitch black garbage bags filled with junk. The objects inside clang against the metal as she rips the cheap plastic and scavenging for anything more than just expired milk cartons and rotten fruit that reeked.

Sighing in disappointment, she lets the lid fall and bang loudly. She runs a hand through her hair, the pads of her fingers rubbing against her eyes. She hears footsteps approaching and she immediately goes stiff, forcing her muscles to relax in case it would show. Showing how aware and alert of the danger outwardly is dangerous, her father used to say to her back then. Normally, if this were a normal day, she would've just waited for her assailant to sneak up behind her and she would gain the upper hand on him, but today was obviously not a normal day. Added with a bleeding side, cuts and bruises, and an upcoming headache, particularly she wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever the asshole wanted from her.

Rolling her eyes skyward, Jewel readily wheeled around, swinging her leg with the remaining strength she had, and her foot connected with a man's nose. The man cried out in pain and stumbled a few steps back, holding his nose. His legs wobbled as he fell back on his ass, and from what Jewel could see, she saw some blood trickling down his nose, down to his lip. A string curses leave the man's lips and Jewel folds her arms across her chest. She looks at him with a calm and uncaring expression. "Don't you know that you should never talk like that in a lady's presence?" she evenly teases.

His gaze snaps back up to her and through his teary, red rimmed eyes, he glares holes into her, and Jewel can't help but feel satisfied. He staggers back to his feet and shuffles out of the alley, but not before swearing that she'll regret it. She just looks at him with cruel amusement in her eyes, shaking her head as she thinks to herself, Get in line, pal.

She makes a noise between a snort and a chuckle, taking one step forward, until her muscles go rigid. She hears a quiet click and then a whir, and slowly, she turns around. Her eyes widened when she catches sight of some weird device that's hovering over her. She furrows her brows and tilts her head to the side. It was shaped like a sphere in the center with a wide triangle that was glowing purple, and sharp, long claws jutting out of it. It looks like one of those devices those aliens have on them...and it looks like they were coming after her again.

"Shit," she curses silently as she wastes no twisting around and climbing up on the fire escape. The stairs make a loud clang against her hurried steps and she leaps up high and goes up onto the rooftops. There's a whirring sound behind her and she knows that it's about to attack her with lasers again. Which meant it was trying to slow her down, which meant that they were planning on kidnapping her again. Which more running and more hiding.

She flips in the air and twists her body gracefully around. She spreads her arms out in the air and looks at the device thing with a mixture of exasperation and irritation. "Don't y'all got anything better to do?" she can't help but ask in exasperation. What the hell did these freaks even _want_ from her anyway? She didn't have any money on her, except in her father's will. What, did they want all her gold medals? Her photographs? 'Cause they could just get those off the internet, the agency, or the magazines.

She leaps along the rooftops with practiced ease and precision, her flips smooth and fluid as she looks around her area. Her brain is working overdrive as she looks for any obstacle to evade the lasers shooting at her and to hide in plain sight. All she has to do is create a path of illusion and distract it somehow so it could lose her. Her eyes rove around the roofs if building, and out of the corner of her eye, she spots a skylight nearby, added with a billboard with gargoyles on either side.

A smirk graces her lips as an idea lights up as if a light bulb brightened above her head. She loves her mind more than anything at this moment.

She picks up her pace and waits until she's at the edge of the building. She flips forward and her fingers brush the concrete surface of the edge, and she's kicking her legs out in the air. The wind spikes through her as she's soaring in the air for a second or two until she landed back to her feet. She wasted no time bolting across the rooftop and performed a fluid cartwheel and the soles of her sneakers smacked against the metal surface of the water tower. She flipped back until she was on top, springing away as she twisted and turned onto the skylight on the building adjacent to her.

She stayed on the glass until the spacecraft loomed over her ominously, and with a loud zing, it shot a beam in her direction. Without wasting time, she flipped back and slid down another set of a fire escape. She perches onto one of the gargoyles beside the billboard and watched with a devious grin as the beam illuminates against the silver metal and bounces from the glass and then to the sphere. A deafening crack sounds through the air, like a building coming down, and the whole device explodes, dusting into a thick cloud of smoke.

She laughs, "Holy shit," she smiles in triumph and she's almost disbelieving. Someone once told her that most skylights in New York had resistant glass. Before she just dismissed it with a wave of her hand, uncaring toward the fact. _Well...thank you, Nicole,_ she thinks to herself. She jumps away and decides to run along the buildings. She doesn't know if that's the only craft they have on them and she doesn't have the energy for any more evading.

She decides to allow herself to be distracted for a moment as she gracefully moves across from building to building. It hasn't been that long since she's ventured on these types of rooftops, jumping from one to another until it's time to call it a night—or day, depending. She likes it when the wind cools her skin, allowing the rush to soothe her body. She's like a graceful and exotic ballerina, her moves fluid and smooth, nothing abrupt or uneven.

Her mind is on a blank and she notices it too late when she rams into something— _somebody_ —and then the next thing she knows, she starts to fall. The wind behind her hits her like a hurricane, and for a moment she's flailing and flailing her limbs out. Everything's swirling into a spiral and she can't exactly focus with the loud _whoosh_ rushing into her ears. She feels weird and uncoordinated, not what her father taught her to be as the rule of the ninja.

Suddenly, something—a _body_ —is slammed behind her like a train, knocking the air out of her lungs. She's spinning and spinning and she becomes dizzy. A shatter of glass shrieks behind her and suddenly and she grunts at the impact of her landing. Stars are dancing across her vision and she sees blue and green spots around her darkened eyesight. Her mind is reeling, and she hates it every time she gets distracted during her run on the rooftops. Her dad used to scold her for doing such a sin back when she lived in Japan. _Distraction is a grave weakness, Julia,_ he used to tell her, making her shrink back at just the _memory_ of it, _you can't just let your mind wander—even for a second—when you're travelling on the roof. Life is not a game you should toy with. It's a privilege._

Sometimes Jewel can't help but ignore those words that echo through her head. It's the rebel in her that makes her want to dare and disobey her father's words, because that's who she is. She can't help it if she wants to cause a little mayhem and a lot of mischief. Following the rules is like telling a little kid to eat broccoli. It's just impossible. So, when she blinks repeatedly, she can hear the quiet panting of a person on top of her, and she wonders how long it's been since the fall and the landing. There's something that feels sharp like a corner and it's digging into the skin of her back. Her vision finally clears and the first thing her eyes lock onto is pair of greyish blue eyes staring down at her with a mixture of panic and concern. She stares back at her apparent rescuer with a blank look on her face.

A flicker of disbelief and surprise crosses her features; the rescuer's skin was a dark, forest green, the skin of her biceps brushing against his scalier, much more muscled biceps, his eyes matched the color of the ocean, something to look through the heavy and deep depths. His eyes are rimmed with red and he was still panting softly, but it sounded more like from the shock than the pure exhaustion. Or maybe it was both. "Are you okay?" he asks her, softly. She remains speechless for a couple of seconds before, dangerously, she narrows her eyes at him, a snarl curling her lips. With the remaining strength she has left, she uses the flat of her palms to harshly push the green creep off of her, unfazed by his physical appearance. Who the hell would wear a stupid costume like that?

"Get off me, you freak." she cruelly snaps, and she swings her fist across his jaw, knocking him down. She gets back to her feet in no time and glares down at him. The green costumed guy just sits there, one large hand cradling his jaw, blinking at her, before he rises to full height. Jewel's jaw dropped, and she stares at the boy with a look of anger and bemusement. He was well built, the sinew layering his arms and legs and they were thick and conditioned, as if he worked out a ton. It was hidden beneath a pebbly layer of forest green skin, which was peculiar when combined with the unique frontal armor that looked fused with anterior, along with the carapace on his back. She notices the hilts of tradition katana swords her father used to weld, along with a blue mask that matched the color of his eyes, tied around the middle of his face.

"The fuck?" she says incredulously, looking at him with disbelief, "What the hell are you _wearing?"_ The turtle dressed boy opens his mouth, and then closes it, and he just stares at her with an odd look and he tilts his head to the side. He looks confused, she notes, like he's expecting her to do something. She eyes him suspiciously, unsure whether or not she should just let it go and walk out that door...

She hears a clatter and then a door swinging open, along with what sounds like trampling as three boys barge into...an antique shop, from the ancient artifacts, and the fact this place smelled like dust. The turtle dressed boy whirls around and Jewel looks over his shoulder and her eyes widen. There's three more of them, barging into this quaint, little shop and the bells ring merrily, a complete opposite of her mood.

 _"Leo!"_ one them says, a rough edge to his tone. Her eyes turn into slits as she gazes at these similarly dressed costumed boys. The one on the left had dark green skin, electric green eyes that glowed even through the dim lighting provided by the pale white moon. He's shorter and stockier than the one in the blue mask, but his muscles are larger and bulkier than all turtle dressed boys combined. The one in the middle had a purple mask, an olive tone to his green skin, reddish brown eyes that looked similar to dark caramel, and he was much lankier than the other, a traditional wooden Bo staff clenched in his large hands. The one on the far right was shorter than all of them, a bright orange mask that betrayed the darkness, and his skin is a lighter green, large baby blue eyes staring at her or the other turtle.

She spots some of the minor similarity between them, quickly deducing the possibility of them being brothers or some sort, like the kneepads along with some wrappings. They all have muscles packed into them, skin scaly like an actual turtle, and she wonders why they're even dressed as turtles. It wasn't even Halloween season, so why the hell would they—

The realization hits her like a truck as she keeps staring at them with an even expression on her face, but it cracks through her features and she watches them with interest as they start conversing, starting off with Green Eyes.

"Leo, what the _shell_ were you thinking?!" Green Eyes explodes in anger, balling his fists at his sides. The one with the blue mask and eyes—Leo, she realizes—steps partially in front of her, as if to shield her from their prying eyes. His arms are crossed defiantly, and she doesn't need to see his face to tell that he was glaring at the other turtle— _maybe_ a turtle, her mind is adamant—and he fires back, "I didn't predict the chances of bumping into a girl jumping on the rooftops midair!"

"We're not supposed to be seen by _humans,_ Fearless!"

"I _know_ that, Raph, but it's not like I _intended_ to bump into her!" 'Leo' retaliates, and Jewel continues to stare back and forth at them. The one in the purple mask and orange mask just stare at her, one with confusion and wariness in his eyes, and the other with childlike wonder.

"Okay, who the hell even _are_ you creeps?" Jewel can't help but snap, growing increasingly tired of the bickering and that fact that, _holy fuck,_ she's in the presence of humanoid, mutant, _fucking_ turtles. They all stiffen and, slowly, all eyes are on her now, and while she's used to boys staring at her all the time, these stares are more out of fear than sly smugness, which strangely she finds herself being okay with. It's a nice change.

Green Eyes—Raph— just looks at her with seething eyes, and he takes a threatening step forward. The one with the purple mask takes one step as well, "Raph." he calls warningly. But he ignored Purple Guy, and the one named Leo uses his sharp shoulder as if to protect her from whatever harm this guy could inflict on her. But she hardly cares; if he decided to get rough, she would face him head-on. He jabs a pointer finger at her, like he's warning her, "Listen here, Princess, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once." she lifts a brow but doesn't say anything, "You're gonna go home, clean yourself up a nice bubble bath, and pretend like none of this ever happened. You're not gonna tell anyone about us, 'cause if you do, we _will_ come after you. Understand?"

She stares at him with a blank and dull expression, looking like she hardly cared. "Is that a threat?" she asks, simply. He glares harder, "Call it what you want." he offers in the same rough and angry tone she usually hears from a blonde friend of hers that yaps like that when she's pissed off.

She folds her arms across her chest, giving him an even expression. These turtles— _freaks,_ she corrects herself. Because they're no different from those alien bastards—all look at her funny, and 'Raph's' glare eases, not by much, and slowly he takes his finger away. She narrows her eyes at them, "Is this some kind of sick joke?" she blurts, looking less than happy. "Because if it is, then this is seriously fucked up."

They all share a look, and they look confused, and she observes them carefully and opens her mouth to say something. But the words die on her tongue as she sharply hisses in pain, falling forward as her hands shoot to her side. Her skin is instantly slicked with warm liquid dribbling down her side, bleeding through the thin material of her top. Her side starts to throb and sting, and it's probably because she still hasn't treated it yet and she's been so busy evading and being trapped in an antique store with a bunch of mutant _fucking_ turtles, that she forgets all about it. And now it comes back to bite her back in the ass.

A scaly hand lands on her shoulder, and her eyes pop wide open when they lock back onto Blue Eyes. "Are you okay?" he asks her worriedly, lips tugged down in a deep, concerned frown. She wrinkles her nose and pushes him away, but there isn't as much force as she'd liked.

"Get your hands off of me, you sick creep!" she snarls venomously, and the one named Raph glares daggers at her.

"Hey, he's just trying to help!" he defends the blue masked turtle, "You're lucky we didn't just leave you here to snap your spine!"

"Well I'm sorry if it's a little difficult for me to adjust that I've gone insane and I am talking to a bunch of _humanoid reptiles."_ she snaps back with equal force of hositily, ready to rip this guy a new one. Is she hallucinating? Because with the amount of blood that keeps leaving her system, this wouldn't come as a surprise.

Her legs start to wobble and she suddenly feels light-headed. She knows that she needs medical attention but her head is too dizzy and she doesn't have any more strength left in her. The adrenaline is no longer in her system, leaving her weak and vulnerable to these reptilian freaks.

A hand steadies her again, latching onto her shoulder. Her head snaps up and use meets a pair of mahogany eyes. "Is it okay if I take a look?" he asks her in a soft, gentle tone, as if he were speaking to a child. Normally Jewel would scowl and tell him to go fuck off, but she keeps her mouth shut instead. Her father's voice comes back to her ears, telling her that she needs to quit acting like a stubborn brat, and let the doctor do his job. Well, this turtle is obviously no doctor, but she's too tired to care at this point and frankly, she gonna go with the string belief that this is all just a dream and she'll probably wake up and find herself still wrapped in chains in that dark cell.

She nods faintly, muttering a, "Fuck it," with a roll of her eyes. The turtle puts one hand on her back to help her stand somewhat upright, and the other gently taking her hands off the bleeding wound. She looks away and opts to stare at ancient chandelier that's chipped with silver and golden paint, and some cracked glass of the bulbs. She grits her teeth when his thick finger prods the center of the wound, and she jerks back at the shape pain.

She looks down and Brown Eyes winced sheepishly, "Sorry," he apologizes, and she just shakes her head at him, looking away. "It doesn't look too serious, but it's bleeding a lot and you're probably going to need stitches." he informs her, and she hums. The three other turtles all stare at her and her mind just spins at the night she was having. Was it her or was this moving a little too fast?

The one called Leo had his arms crossed, "How did this happen?" he hesitantly asks, and she spares him a glance. She shrugs one shoulder and looks at them with an even expression, "I was held in captivity for three weeks." she simply explains, and they all perk up at the mention of 'captivity'

"Captivity?" Brown Eyes hums, straightening up as his hand stayed glued to her side. "Wait—who was holding you captive? Do you remember?"

"Of _course_ I remember, you dumb fuck." she snaps, and she knows that she sounds ungrateful and just plain mean, but she's tired and her side is throbbing and she _hates_ getting stitches. "And if you must know, it was these alien robot brains that talked funny and called themselves the Kraang." each turtle visibly goes rigid at the mention of the aliens, and when she notices the deathly silence, she raises one brow. "Wait, do you know 'em or somethin'?"

They all share a look and she can't tell what silent message their eyes are having, and the one with the purple mask looks back at her. "We're...familiar with them. But rest assured that they are _not_ our friends." he pauses again, looking like he's unsure of whether or not he wants to say something that's on his mind. "...why did they capture you?" he asks, hesitantly, like he's afraid of the answer that would come out of her mouth, or maybe just the fact she would yell at him and call him a cruel name.

She seals her lips together tight. She didn't know them, and they didn't know her, and just because neither liked the same race (wait, that came out wrong...), it didn't make them best friends. But, they would have to do for now, and it's not like she had to give them her life story.

She hefts her shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know," she admits, "All I know is that they called me Subject 564 and experimented on me with these drugs."

He raises an eyeridge, and his brothers behind him share an odd look. "Drugs?" he repeats, "What _kind_ of drugs?"

"I don't _know._ All I know is that they injected drugs in me, and locked me in a cell all by myself for three weeks. That's all I have so you can take it and leave it." she grits, frustrated beyond belief with their consistent questions. He looks at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and finally, he nods once. He turns around, hand still on her side. The next words that come out of his mouth not only surprises her, but his brothers as well.

"We should take her to the lair."

It's not even three seconds and already the protests spews out of their mouths like word-vomit.

**_"WHAT?!"_ **

"Are you _crazy?!"_

"Wait, we can keep her?!" okay...that one was not a protest, and Jewel could help but twist her face at the question of it. "Freaking racist," she mutters under her breath.

Surprisingly, the tall turtle remains calm and unfazed by all their reactions. "We should take her to the lair," he repeats, and when the guy called Raph opens his mouth to protest, he beats him to the punch. "Those aliens injected some drugs in her that regular hospitals probably don't know about, and if the Kraang notice that one of their prisoners are missing, then they're gonna be coming after her." he argues and they all continue to gape at him with wide eyes. "I'm not saying it has to be permanent—but we can't just leave her off the streets. Can you guys honestly tell me with a clean consciences that you can live with that?"

The three turtles all stay silent after that, and Jewel could hear the wheels turning in their heads as they fidgeted nervously. She blinks once. "What makes you think I live in the streets?" she asks in a deadpan tone, looking at him with flat eyes. He looks at her and gives her the same look. "You were jumping across the rooftops all by yourself and from my understanding, most kidnapped teens usually come to their parents first thing."

Jewel glares but doesn't say anything back, mainly because she can't argue with that. She's been on her own since her father died, and especially since she got out of custody from an old friend of his. An old friend she didn't like to talk about. "Fair enough."

"But we can't just take her to the lair," Raph says, and the one called Leo nods in agreement, "He's right, Donnie. Even if she is in danger, I doubt Splinter will allow it."

"But we can't just leave her alone, guys," the one with the orange mask pipes up, and Jewel's gaze flickers to him in surprise since he hasn't talked much. "It's not like we can ask April, and she hasn't ran away from us."

A protest hangs in the back of her throat, ready to fire and defend herself...until Blue Boy decides to speak up.

A heavy sigh, and then, "Okay, fine, we can take her to the lair. But she has to wear a blindfold and I'm talking to Splinter about this first."

Brown Eyes— _Donnie_ —nods once, "That's fine. All I need is about an hour." he says, and Jewel can't help but snap back at them viciously. "Okay, do I get any say in all of this?" she asks, her voice coated with annoyance. Raph scoffs, "If you wanna live, then no." he snarks, "But frankly, I can't find it in me to aid some spoiled brat in need."

She narrows her eyes at him but doesn't say anything. The one called Donnie turns fully to her, "I know we're not...exactly what you're used to." _no shit, Einstein,_ she thinks bitterly, "But you're bleeding a lot and I need the right equipment to drain the drugs out of your system."

His eyes linger and ask the question itself, and she considers her options for a moment. Her eyes narrow into thin slits, and she eyes them all warily. Their expressions are sincere, no lie to be told, aside from Green Eyed Grumpy Ass, regarding her with an uncaring expression. Her calculating eyes blink once, and, finally, her shoulders deflate like a balloon, and she nods once. "Fine. But one wrong move and I'll slit your throats before you could even _beg—got it."_ she threatens, snarling like a feral beast for extra detail. The one with the baby blue eyes and the Donnie guy widen their eyes to the size of saucers, while the other two just glare at her in offense, but she hardly cares if she hurt their feelings.

* * *

"Wait a minute...you mean to tell me that you guys live...in the _sewers?"_ Jewel asks with a blank expression. She wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting. Though it came as more wonder than surprise. It made sense. Construction workers mostly ventured into the sewers, because that was part of their job, and no one else would have the balls to go in.

"In an old subway station, actually." Donatello—the four introduced each other by this point—corrects her. He held the lid of the manhole while his brothers climbed down. She didn't have to be a physic to tell that they were tense with nervous anticipation. "I know it's not ideal...but it's the easiest way to get there." He gestures with a hand towards the dark hole. Even from a few feet away Jewel could feel the cool draft leaking out, and she sniffed once and wrinkled her nose in distaste at the unpleasant aroma wafting from below. She pouted childishly and rolled her eyes skyward. Donnie quickly covered her eyes with a blindfold he'd found in the old antique shop.

He was careful as to not strain her injury, a lanky yet impossibly strong arm wrapping around her waist. She was lowered into the dark sewer, the smell of sewage wafting through her nostrils. A slight grimace twists her face. "We're not walking in raw sewage, are we?"

"What?! No!" she hears Donnie sputter in disgust and disbelief, "There are walkways."

She nods once and leans most of her weight on him. She can hear the soft patter of his feet and she can hear somebody—probably Green Eyes—grumbling under his breath, something about this being a _very_ bad idea. _No arguing here, asswipe,_ she thinks wryly to herself. While she did intend to come back into society, she never intended to actually bump into and meet humanoid turtles that apparently live in a subway station in the sewers. Either this was a hallucination from the blood loss or everything she always knew in life is _seriously_ being questioned.

She hears someone backing up and bouncing beside her. She hears the quiet clatter of chains as the mutant beside her continued to bounce like he's just won some sort of grand prize. "So, like, what's your name, dudette?" she makes a face at the name, "We don't know anything about you."

"That's because we'd just met." she says in a clipped tone. This doesn't seem to deter the cheery turtle—Mikey, he told her to call him—as he continues to babble on. "I know, but...well, we're friends now and since you're bunking with us, we might as well know."

"I never said anything about staying with you freaks."

"Do you have anyone to go home to?" he probes her, his voice curious with wonder, and it reminds her of a little kid's voice. There's no malice behind it and it's almost sweet. But she's not going to let it faze her. Puppies are cute but this reptilian monster isn't.

She stays silent at the question, refusing to divulge in any more questions about herself and her personal life. She didn't know this wackjob and he didn't know her. She was just going down to their subway station, let Donnie treat her, and then leave and get back to her life. She'll probably have to hide from the aliens while she's at it and probably come up with a disguise.

"You're gonna love our place," Mikey boasts, the warbler tension gone as she decides to listen instead. "We have a tire swing, a dojo—ooh, and I have state-of-the-art collectible action figures!" she pauses at the second thing he lists and snaps her blindfolded eyes to him. "Wait a minute, you guys have a dojo?"

She feels Donnie's arm tense around her waste, and she feels the slight wind picking up as Mikey enthusiastically. "Yeah! We got this like rad Sensei, his name's Master Splinter btw, and he's like the master of ninjutsu!" he beams and Jewel just tapes because _holy SHIT ninja turtles?_ She probably should've already guessed when she saw their straps that carried traditional Japanese weapons her father used to have back then.

Her thoughts catch up with the memory and she looks like she's realizing something that's been right in front of her. "So you're...ninja...mutant...turtles?" she slowly drawls, voice calloused with disbelief.

She hears Donnie scoff, "Well when you put it like _that_ it sounds _ridiculous."_

"And we're teenagers." Mikey adds on, and Jewel rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I got that." she says, sarcasm leaking through. She scoffs again and shakes her head, "I must be losing my fucking mind," she grouses under her breath, shaking her head. She wants to laugh and the back of her throat is itching with just the pure stupidity of it. Her mind doesn't seem to wrap around the fact that she's heading further into a _sewer tunnel_ with giant, _man-sized_ turtles that she just _met._

It feels like half an hour when they get there, as they twist and turn with Donnie dragging her along. She knows it intentional. If they train in ninjutsu and good as they probably _think_ they are, then they know the importance of secrecy, _especially_ since they're turtles. _Mutant_ turtles.

_Gross._

The weight of Donnie's arms disappears from her waist, and she can feel thick and large thumbs untying the knot stuck behind her head. Light pours into her eyes and she blinks, one, two, and she's now looking straight ahead at a subway railroad tunnel. It's dark and the room is cast in an orange glow, and she glances at the walls. She curls her nose when she finds the slimy fluid that splatters the wall like blood. The smell stings her nose and she tries to keep her breakfast in. Though at the mention of her stomach, she can feel it growling with hunger, begging for her to nourish it.

She ignores her stomach as they lead her away from the railroad tracks. Donnie keeps a steadied hand on her shoulder, maybe because she would collapse, and suddenly she's surrounded on all sides. The red masked turtle is front of her, the happy one behind her, and she knows that because Blue Eyes is right next to her. They trek down the railway tunnel, carefully avoiding the rails. A pleasant smell of air freshener and hazel nut hits her nose and lights pour into her eyes.

"Home sweet home!" Mikey crows, sliding in front of her in a fluid motion. He has his arms stretch out wide and legs parted, his three toes pointing up as if he's saying "ta-da!" with his body. Jewel pulls a face and glances over at Blue Eyes—she refuses to call him Leo—who was carefully avoiding looking at her and twisting his hands. She cocks her head to the side and the corners of her lips twitches up.

She climbs a small flight of steps and hops over a row of turnstiles, then lets her eyes roam around and soak up the room in front of her. In the middle of the room there was a 'pit' of sorts, littered with cushions and beanbag chairs, and a small television with several cooking utensils connected to it and wires exposed. Above it was a spiraling staircase that hung in midair and seemed to lead to nowhere. To the right was a moat and a few paper dividers set up in archways, and to the left was a huge set of metal doors. Straight ahead looked to be a hallway of some kind.

She regards the whole room with an even expression on her face. "It's nice," she compliments, and Mikey beamed wider. He dashed ahead of her and in the pit, Mikey was pulling a drawer out of a plastic shelf with uncontrolled enthusiasm. He shot up to his feet and held out some sort of DVD disc. "Welcome to our lair, dudette!" he says with a huge grin on his face. Jesus, she thinks to herself, his smile could rival a clown's.

"Lair?" Raph snorts. Mikey just sticks his tongue out in defiance. He looks back to her, "Come look at all my games!" Michelangelo squeals. In an instant, he dashes over to Jewel, grabs her tight by the wrist, and drags her over to the pit. Jewel grunts in surprise, but by the time she can blink they were already in the pit and Mikey was now kneeling next to the drawer he had pulled out.

"Are you a gamer? Do you play games?" Mikey chattered, going _way_ too fast for her liking. She was used to _William's_ eccentric behavior, but this guy was on a whole other _level._ He pulls out discs in cracked plastic cases. "I've got all the retro ones!"

"I don't play videogames." Jewel says, pulling a face when she sees one cartoon character with a fiery sword and something that looks like Mario Kart. Something catches her eyes and she points a finger at it, "What's that?"

Mikey tilts his head up at her before fishing through the discs. He makes a confused face as he pulls out one. "You mean this?"

Jewel furrows her brows as she looks at it dumbly for a few seconds, before recognition pulls at her face and she smirks in bemusement. "Is that one of the older versions of the Space Heroes videogames collection?"

"You like Space Heroes?" Blue Eyes asks her, a mixture of bemusement and hope. She turns his head at him, a ghost of a smile on her lips. She shrugs one shoulder. "A little," she admits, "I used to watch it with a friend of mine and we used to role play our favorite characters." she explains with a snicker. His face lights up and she has to admit, it looks odd on him. It seems foreign in a way since his face has been more serious and less like a kid who found a new friend. It's actually kind a cute in a dorky kind of way.

"Okay, fine, I'll show you later," he said a bit dejectedly. Then his eyes lit up with sudden excitement. "Do you want a tour? I can totally give you a tour!" From behind her, she could hear Green Eyes sigh and slap a hand on his face. She blinks once or twice at him before Donnie cuts into the one-sided conversation. "You can give her a tour after we're done, Mikey." he walks over to them and gently grabs ahold of her hand, and she lets him lead her into what he called his lab. He slides the metal door shut behind them and lets go of her hand. "You can sit on the chair next to one of the—"

"—turbine mixers." she finishes for him, and he looks at her in surprise and something impressed, "It's pretty dope," she muses as she takes a seat next on the stool, ignoring the gawking face of the boy named Donatello. She crosses her arms over her chest and looks around the lab. "Admittedly impressive." she notes as he grabs a first-aid kit that's on a huge shelf labeled chemicals on the wall. "Even my school doesn't have this kind of equipment."

"What kind of school do you go to?" Donnie asks her as he latches open the box, taking out some gauze and wetting a cloth with a bottle filled with water. His eyes ask the question and she peels some of her top so he could press it to her side. "It's this advanced performance arts school in Manhattan." she replies, only giving him vague answers instead. She doesn't know them, and she refuses to trust them until...well, until something. Donnie hands her a two pills and she takes them without hesitation. "Do I seriously need pain meds?" she drones with a voice deader than her mother. He blinks and eyes her with confusion. "How did you know they were pain meds?"

"I know a lot more than you think."

He continues to eye her with a look of bemusement and something else she can't decipher. She swallows the pills dry, a trick an old friend of her dad's taught her shortly after he died. Donnie grips the blue cloth and looks at her with a more serious expression, reminding her of the face her dad made when he was in his 'Doctor Mode'. "I'm gonna have to apply direct pressure to the wound." he warns her, "It doesn't look serious, since it's a clean cut, so I'll have to—"

"—clean with soap and water, make sure to rinse out all the soap, and apply antibiotic cream so I don't get an infection and then wrap it around with a sterile bandage." she finishes for him, batting her long lashes and smiling at him with a dazzling grin. He gapes at her dumbfoundedly before, slowly, it dips down into a scowl, annoyed and irritated. "Can you please stop doing that?"

"Only if you don't tell me the obvious." she fires back, smirking at him with smug eyes, and he puffs his cheeks out like a chipmunk before huffing. Annoying people was like second nature to her, well, third nature to her. Disobeying orders from her superiors—or anyone, really—is more like second nature to her. She doesn't know why; maybe it's just the way people would glare at her and look as if they were trying not to rip every strand of their hair out, most times looking like they weren't trying to strange the living life out of her. She would just laugh about it and carry on, because she doesn't care.

The rest of the ninety minutes she stares ahead into space as Donnie wraps the gauze around her, and asks her some questions about the drugs they injected her with. She tells him that they only injected one drug into her bloodstream and two more, one the color of a dark grey, the other a bright yellow. The side effects lasted for about an hour and she hasn't felt funny ever since. Donnie puts a hands to his chin and narrows his eyes thoughtfully, "Fascinating..." he whispers to himself.

"Okay, so can I _go?"_ Jewel finally snaps, growing increasingly impatient as he scribbles down on his clipboard. "I'm not ungrateful for how big of a help you've been, but I have a life I need to get back to." He looks up at her sharply in surprise and he opens his mouth to answer, until another voice comes to her ears.

"Splinter wants to see you." Jewel and Donnie both turn their heads in Leo's direction in unison. He's leaning against the doorframe of the metal door and has his arms across, a purple bruise blossomed on his jaw. His face is unreadable, "You can decide whether or not you want to stay, if he gives you the okay." he informs her. He gives Donnie one look, and a silent conversation is said through their eyes before he walks away. She whips her head to the genius turtles, apparently, but somehow it made total sense, and she raises one brow in question. A nervous expression flicks through his face, and he smiles anxiously, revealing a gap in his teeth, making him look nerdier and dorkier. All he needed was a fresh set of glasses.

"I'll take you." he offers, setting down his pen and clipboard, and she furrows her brows. People at her old school back in Tokyo used to tell her that she seemed observant, watching everyone with a keen eye, like a hawk, and she was one of the best to read people's expression. She notes the raw tension of his rigid shoulders, the anxious lines forming along his green face, and the way he carefully avoids her question with a diversion. He's not telling her something, and it had to do with this ninjutsu master named Splinter.

Once they're torn out of the lab, he shows her one of the places to go, and there they see Blue Eyes again—the nickname was starting to annoy her, since it sounded more like a cliché—in the same posture except he's standing up straighter, like a soldier. He has on a steely and even expression, and it's calm but it's also hard to read. Donnie tells her to be careful with the bandage , recommending that she should shy away from strenuous activities for a little while.

"So what's in there?" she asks, gesturing to the paper dividers next to the moat with one hand. Leo's face lights up for a second before it goes away just as it'd appears. "That's the dojo Mikey told you about. You wanna see?" he asks her, a hopeful tinge to his voice. She moves her head to one side and crookedly grins at him in mirth and slyness. "I thought you said your 'Master Splinter' wanted to talk to me?" she puts air quotes around Master Splinter, and she hears Donnie stifle a snort, covering it up quickly with a cough. She continues to gaze at Leo as his face reddens a smidge, and he shrugs one shoulder, awkwardly. "I figured you should know what kind of weapons we can wield just in case you decided to retaliate." he tactfully answers, and Jewel nods, "Ah," she says, smirking. Donnie moves ahead of her and up to Leo, taking him by the shoulder and he eyes her once before turning fully to Leo, and both are engaged in a whispered and hushed conversation.

"Don't you think we should tell her?"

"I do. I'm just here in case she freaks out and we have to restrain her."

"I don't think she's gonna freak out, Leo."

"Oh? And what makes you so sure?"

"Well, for one, she didn't freak out over _us—"_

"She called us freaks, Donnie. I think that's worse than screaming our eardrums off."

Jewel frowns as the whispered arguing goes back and forth with folded arms. She lifts a brow and strains her ears to listen until she can't take it anymore. She can take snobby and petty girl gossiping behind her back, talking shit about her. She can take the media talking shit about her, some other models she's made rivals out of, but this was just getting super annoying. With a roll of her eyes, she climbs up the steps that lead into their precious dojo, soaking in the sight of it.

There's a large tree that stands in the center of the dojo, traditional Japanese mats along with a weapons rack, a rice paper screen, and a skylight that basked light on the tree, the lush emerald leaves, and the thick, dark brown trunk. It looks like it's been care and tended to for years. The light has a bluish tint to it, reminding her of the talking tree in the Disney movie, _Pocahontas,_ she used to watch with an old friend. She looks up and somehow it makes the tree look calm and magnificent. She looks more around the dojo, opting instead to not touch anything. She's still a stranger to them and this wasn't her place, so she doesn't think they would take it too kindly if she touched their belongings without permission, and she respects that part. She turns around and spots something that looks akin to a shrine. There are rows of shelves and on one of them, stood a picture. A family portrait, to be exact.

The photo was black and white, like an ancient film from a long time ago, before color was even included back then in the old days. It consisted of three people: all were Japanese, obviously. There was a young woman and her dark hair was tied up into an elegant bun, baring a tradition kimono, along with a man that had a defined facial structure, sharp and hardened, like steel. He had dark hair and thick eyebrows as well, and the way he looked reminded her of her father, in a way. And cradled in the woman's arms was a baby, eyes closed and protectively wrapped around in a thick blanket. She stares at the picture, gazing at it with an unreadable expression. It makes her wonder if that's what her own family portrait would've looked like had her mother lived when she was born. Her father was all she had left, then he had to go and die. But still...she wonders what her mother would be doing in the pictures. Would she be smiling? Laughing? Or no smile at all?

She's so lost in her thoughts that when a voice cuts air through her. It makes her almost jump out of her skin.

"You must be the young girl Leonardo has told me about."

She blinks hard in shock and whirls around, gaining into a defensive stance out of habit, before she freezes in her stance. Standing about four feet away from her, stood a giant rat, with crimson red eyes and a long pink tail sticking out of the robe he was wearing. He held a jade staff in his clawed hand, and two big rat ears twitch on top of his head. And even, to both her astonishment and amazement, as a giant, man-sized rat, he stood with certain grace and authority.

She looks up at him with furrowed brows, disbelieving eyes, "What the hell?" she can't help but say, ignoring her father's scolding voice as he's yelling at her five-year-old self to not swear in front of people older than her. He doesn't comment on her language, and he just looks down at her with a calm and blank expression. She hears a loud noise and next thing, all four turtles come barreling into the dojo, limbs becoming tangled as voices overlap each other. Leo seems to untangle first and rush over to her and the rat.

"Oh, uh, Sensei, this is the girl I told you about." he introduces with a nervous look, and his eyes point to her, "And this is our Sensei, and our father: Splinter." Splinter observes her with a keen, almost suspicious gleam in his eyes. Her eyes jump back and forth between them and all three of the other turtles stare at her. "Your...father." she repeats dumbly, eyeing the large rat. Leo nods, "Yeah," he confirms.

"And your Sensei."

"Yes."

"Does he know that he's a rat?"

"He knows." this time it's Splinter who answers and four pairs of eyes fixate on her and their Sensei and she tires to find her bearings. She debates in her head whether she should shake his hand or bow. It was much more different here than in Tokyo. Back then her father would always tell her to bow and clasp her hands together, a respectful greeting. But people here in American take it different and prefer a handshake rather than a bow. She goes over the options and decides in the click of a clock. She bends down her waist in a respectful bow, _"Hajimemashite."_ she drones in perfect Japanese.

She straightens up and sees a mildly surprised look on Splinter's face, but quick as it'd come, it washes off his face and he grins down at her pleasantly, bowing his head. "Likewise, young lady." he returns, and he claps his hands on the handle of his cane, "I am aware of your recent...troubles."

"Yes, but don't worry, I don't plan on staying."

He hums once, as if in consideration, and, "I trust that you understand the vitality of our home remaining unknown." he replies gravely, "Humans do not take too kindly to our unusual appearance,"

She smirks, humorlessly, "Unusual would be a understatement." she snorts, but the flat smirk falls from her face when she notices the slight wince coming from Leo. "If I may, what exactly are you guys?" she asks in suspicion, because these mutants are just a whole new level for her, and she doesn't trust them. Not fully. "Like...lab accidents or somethin'?"

Master Splinter smiles at her in understanding, and nods once, "It isn't as complicated as one would think, Miss. It is really quite simple, but only if you trust all of us enough to listen, should you decide to stay as Leonardo has made me aware of your recent troubles with the Kraang."

She purses her lips tightly and narrows her eyes into slits, her calculating gaze falling back on the turtles, who are all now gathered around each other and almost behind their father. She looks at each of them, hugging her arms tight, and she catches sight of the intense hesitation in their gazes as they stare at her. They look almost afraid; afraid that she would run out of here and tell somebody about them, and their father's words catches up with her thoughts and what happened tonight. Ashamed was a feeling she never understood, nor something she ever felt. She's confident and she's brutality honest, even if it's cold and mean, but it's what people want, right? Well, she guesses she wouldn't know, since she's not really a people person.

Hesitantly— _what the hell,_ she thinks to herself, _I've done crazier shit_ —she nods slowly, and the rat nods once, taking one hand off the cane and motioning to the large tree. "You may sit if you'd like," he offers her, and she nods again, but it's hardly noticeable, and she looks at the turtles again, three but one looking anxious and unsure, the other one cheerful as she reluctantly sits, folding her legs, letting her hands fall flat on her thighs. The large rat sits across from her, and three of the turtles sit beside him, watching the exchange unfold. The one named Mikey bounds over to her, bravest of the bunch, sits next to her. She snaps her head towards him, raising one brow warily, but he blinks once and smiles at her reassuringly. "I come in peace." he amends, grinning widely.

She stares at him for a moment longer, and the corners of her lips twitches up, and she nods once, turning her eyes back on Splinter. She briefly lets her eyes flicker to the other three, and even though they look dangerous and disgusting, the more she looks at them, the more she isn't disgusted. They haven't harmed her yet, or maybe they were never going to, and one them did catch her midair and she can be grateful for that. Plus, Donnie did treat her wound and she finds that it hasn't bothered her like before, so...maybe she could try not to call them hideous freaks.

Splinter clears his throat as she listens intently as he tells their backstory.

"Fifteen years ago, I was once a human named Hamato Yoshi, trained in the ancient art of ninjutsu. I lived in Japan with my wife and daughter, Tang Shen and little Miwa. However, due to...an unfortunate accident, I fled to New York in search for a new life after I lost my beloved. There, I went into a pet store and purchased four baby turtles—"

"—that was us!"

"Shut up, Mikey!"

Splinter sends Mikey a look of warning, and he shrinks back under his father's gaze, and Jewel watches with something close to amusement. "...as I was saying," he continues, "I purchased four baby turtles, when I came across a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him, so I decided to follow him and investigate. I was led into a dark alleyway, where I saw the man take a large canister with a mysterious glow ooze out of his bag. Unfortunately, I had made my presence known to him and his identical friends, when I stepped on a rat." Jewel stifles a laugh, biting the inside of her cheek instead. "They proceeded to attack me out of fear that I would alert the authorities, and instinctively, I fought back, but I had accidentally caused the canister to smash open and spill its contents upon me and the baby turtles I still held onto. I was transformed into what you see today, but my sons took more a human-like form, and gained minds and behaviors of human children. I couldn't let our presence known to the rest of the world, so I decided to raise these four turtles as my sons, and I passed down my knowledge of ninjutsu and the way of the ninja to them. And soon after, I gave them all names after the great Renaissance Masters of the Arts."

Jewel stays silent for a couple of seconds after he finished, staring with a blank face. She lets this information pass through and saturate her brain, and looks around the room once more. "That's...an interesting story, Master Splinter—and a shit ton of weird."

"I would refrain using such language around your elders, young lady," he gently scolds her, and Jewel can't help but grin faintly, the nostalgia hitting her from behind. "You almost sound like my father." she tells him, trying not to let it show how much it means to her, hearing something only her dad would tell her nicely but also in a strict kind of way. Splinter gives her a warm smile that's kind of touching, "Your father sounds like an intelligent man."

The small smile falters and fades from her lips, and she locks up her jaw, her eyes turning downcast but she tries not to let it show clearly. "He was." she says softly, almost in a whisper. She sees Splinter frowning, but he doesn't say more on the matter, and instead changes the topic before any of the boys could ask. The question that comes out of his mouth catches her off-guard, even when it really doesn't sound much of a surprise, since some of the turtles mentioned it once or twice and she's been adamant on it.

"With the Kraang coming after you for an unknown reason, Leonardo has suggested to me that it would be safer for you if you were to stay with us. Would you like to, Miss?"

She perks up in surprise and her gaze snaps to Leo in a split second. Her mouth is shaped into an 'o' and she's speechless, a rare delight for people who knew her. She honestly thought he would be the least likely turtle to suggest such a thing, especially considering that when he rescued her she just punched him in the jaw and called him a freak. Looking back on it, not exactly her best introduction, but she's never seen a mutant turtle before in her life and she finds turtles boring, preferring predators more, so cut her some slack.

Leo hands his head low and avoids eye contact with her, wringing his hands together and she lifts a brow in amusement, and her eyes travel back to Splinter. She looks at him with a mixture of confusion and incredulously. "You guys want me to...live here? With you?" she clarifies, voice coated unsure and bemused. Splinter chuckles, low in his chest, but it's kinder than a rumbling chuckle she'd grown used by her dad's old friend. "Only if you assure us that you would not tell anyone of our existence. Or if you have a family to go home to?" She pauses at the mention of 'family', because no, she doesn't have a family to go home to. She has a friend, an agent, and a boss to come home to, but it's not she's staying anywhere, specifically.

She rolls her jaw, gnawing her lower lip, because every time she tells _anybody_ this, they would always look at her with _loathsome_ pity in their eyes, and then some would say, _"aw, you poor thing,"_ and she _hates_ that, because it makes them think she's just this sad and lonely girl, but she's perfectly _fine_ with it. She's not sad, or lonely, and she's not depressed. She's indifferent, and she settles for that.

"I...don't have a home to go back to." she admits, her voice low and quiet, and she shrugs one shoulder, "'S just me."

And she proceeds to wait for the _pitying_ eyes, the sad frowns, and the _"aw, you poor thing,"_ and she dares to look at all of them. Leo, Donnie, and Raphael all look at her with frowns on their faces, and she can see out of the corner of her eye that Mikey's the only one looking at her with pity and sadness that seems strange on his freckled features, but he doesn't say anything. And Splinter only nods once, eyes akin to understanding, and, softly, light as a feather, he lays a hand on her shoulder, and she looks at the hand in surprise before back at him, a question behind her eyes.

"You may stay here as you'd like, if you abide to our rules." he says, instead. She nods and manages to plaster a small smile on her face, brushing a stand of hair away. "I might as well, I'm in your debt." she thanks in her own weird way, because she's not used to the whole 'thank you' ordeal so she never thanks anybody. Something sinks in her chest when she remembers how she treated them beforehand, but she lets it slide. She can apologize later for that, maybe give them something instead since she _loathes_ apologizing, the only person she's been able to apologize to without gagging is Gwen, and that's because she makes her.

"So," Mikey pipes up suddenly, and Jewel looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "you can be our friend...right? I mean, we've never really had a human friend before..." his voice is hopeful, maybe with a twinge of fear of her saying the inevitable hell no, that's on the tip of her tongue, but she pushes that away and really looks at him, and then all of them. They all look at her, the same question shining in their eyes. Then at Splinter, and while his expression is stoic with curiosity, she notices that his fingers were twitching nervously, the anxiousness in them as they tap against his thighs. They all look apprehensive about her response to the sudden request, and she doesn't blame them. Because they're mutants, and they don't look like the average people you'd want to be friends with.

"You want me...to be your friend?" she finally drawls, _Me,_ with my status on the surface, friends with a ninjutsu _rat_ master, and his four _mutant_ ninja turtles..."

The four turtles all share a look of fear, and she realizes that her words were coming out wrong, so she backtracks. "I'm not saying no, it's just I'm not exactly the _easiest_ person to get along with." she shrugs one shoulder, face twisting in confusion, "So why would you want me to be your friend when I called you freaks?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too." Raph suddenly pipes up for the first time since they brought her here, "She called us monsters, Sensei, after Leo saved her from going splat. Why should we even help her?" he asks the question like he's so confused about it and just disgusted with idea of it, and something mildly warm ignites in her chest, but she doesn't make a retort, since it's probably best. Splinter glares at the red masked turtle, disapproval in his expression, "You should not be one to judge another so quickly, Raphael." he reprimands, "You and your brothers should all know how humans can react to your different appearance."

Raph looks like he wants to fight more on the matter, but he closes his mouth with a click, not saying anymore. Jewel can't help but smirk faintly with smug eyes, even though she knows it's best that maybe she shouldn't. But, whatever, she's not unused to pushing people's buttons.

They all look back at her, and she can read the fear and apprehension stiffening them, as if they thought she might laugh in their faces and called them freaks again. Her eyes jump to each and every one of them, gaping at them with a puzzled expression. Their question was innocent as a puppy's eyes, but it meant something to them and especially her answer. A small, reasonable side of her just wants to get the _hell outta there,_ arguing that they're just freaks who are a value to nothing in this world except each other. Pretend like she never met them, and carry on with her life.

But, looking at the hopeful gleam in their eyes, even the curiosity in those vibrant green eyes, waiting for her answer, fearing the response, but the hope that keeps them holding on that maybe she would want to at least try to be their friend. And her gut tightens, constricting her and she licks her teeth, lips closed tightly.

She grins and tilts her head to one side, her expression both satisfied and sly with a pinch of surprise flickering across, and she shrugs one shoulder, "Why not?" she replies coolly, grinning crookedly. They all look taken aback for a moment until their eyes pop out of their sockets. She almost laughs at their reactions, wishing she had a phone on her, while they just gape at her in shock, Mikey looks like he's about to burst into an explosion of confetti and glitter, every happy emoji she could think of. He lunges at her and she doesn't have enough time to react as his strong arms circle around her in a crushing embrace. "YES! You hear that, guys?! We have a human friend!"

"What about April?" Donnie asks, quirking a brow.

Raph scoffed, "Dude, we saved her life. She has to like us now."

Jewel raises both her brows high and cocks her head. "Who's April?" she asks, and her eye twitches when her side jostles from the injury.

"She's someone else we had to rescue from the Kraang." Leo answers, "You guys can meet when she comes over one of these days." Raph rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure they'd have a blast," he drones the last words, "They could probably gossip and braid each other's hair all night." he says, sarcasm dripping from every words. Jewel pats Mikey's shell awkwardly, seeing that her arms were pinned to her sides, and a sly smirk curves her lips, eyes glossy with mischief. "Yeah, we could also compare what kind of dicks we like to suck on. Y'know, when our cycle sinks."

They all freeze and their faces look a mixture of shock and disgust, and she can feel Mikey stiffen as he continued to crush her. She almost opens her mouth to laugh at the pure horror engraved into their green features, when a withering glare from Splinter shuts her up. She grins sheepishly, "Sorry." she amends, and the rat just shakes his head, probably second guessing his decision about her staying here already. He wouldn't be the first one.

Donnie notices the slight wince pinching her face slightly when she feels a sharp sting on her side. "Mikey, you can't hug her like that," he warns, "I just wrapped it and it still needs to heal after a week or two."

She sees Mikey blink once and, slowly, he pulls away, offering her his apologies. She waves a dismissive hand and waits for the throb to go away. She tucks a lock of hair away with a finger and she sees Leo open his mouth, his question making her pause for a split second.

"Okay, now that we got all of this settled, if you're going to live with us, we need to at least know your name." he says, in what she thinks is being a fair trade. She regards him with a stoic and sly expression, a look she's used to giving to most guys. It's a weird habit William would tell her to break, as she can't afford for any more drama circling around her already hectic life.

She shrugs one shoulder, off-handedly, "Fair enough," she says, "Jewel." she replies, smoothly, "Jewel King."


End file.
